Lump breaker for vacuum dryer



July 26, 1960 c. s. KEIRNAN LUMP BREAKER FOR VACUUM DRYER Filed Aug. 11, 1958 INVENTOR. Camus G. Kuamm ZRAJ M 4 Z M ATTORNEYS United States Patent mesne assignments, to Patterson Foundry & Machine Company, a corporation of Ohio Filed Aug. 11, 1958, Ser. No. 754,219

6 Claims. (Cl. 241-98) This invention relates to an apparatus for blending or drying various ingredients and more particularly relates to an improved arrangement for preventing agglomerate formation.

One of the more common uses of such apparatus is to disperse a dry material into a liquid or vice-versa or to disperse one dry material into another dry material. Another common use is to dehydrate a solid material by tumbling it for a substantiallength of time in a blender. The blending apparatus may embody a rotatable conicaltype chamber which is charged with the necessary materials. One problem encountered in such cases is the fact that the material often forms into balls, lumps, or agglomerate formation, which are difiicult to disintegrate and, accordingly, unduly prolong the mixing or drying process. Heretofore, it has been impossible or impractical to mix or blend certain materials because of their tendency to form such balls, lumps or agglomerate formation. The problem is further intensified by the fact that in some cases, it is not possible to break up the lumps solely, by the tumbling method. Thus, it is evident that the process of removing moisture from the balls or lumps may be time consuming and expensive, and it is highly desirable to break up the balls or lumps while they are being tumbled in the blender to shorten the time of drying or mixing.

An object of the present invention is to break lumps and agglomerate formation in a blender during the mixing operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a'lump breaker integral with the blender and adapted to operate when the blender is in operation.

Briefly, the foregoing objects are accomplished by mounting a lump breaking apparatus in a rotatable blending chamber which apparatus includes a pair of intermeshing rakes, one of which is stationary and the other being rotatable. A suitable driving means may be drivingly coupled to the rotatable rake exterior to the blender. The driving means may be independently powered or may be coupled through a suitable power take-off for rotation with the blending chamber. With the latter arrangement, the lump breaker automatically operates in synchronism whenever the blender is in operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

The single figure is a side elevational view, partially in section, of a conical blender constructed in accordance with the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the blender, generally designated as B, comprises a hollow drum or chamber preferably composed of two frusto-conical portions or truncated cones 10 and 12, which are formed integral with, or are suitably secured to, a cylindrical belt portion 14 at their respective bases or widest ends. At the narrow or lower end of the cone 10 there is provided a convenient manhole structure 15 having a manhole cover 16, which 2,946,524 7 Patented July 26, 1960 ice Y may be suitably maintained in closed position by the handwheel 17 in the conventional manner. The cones 10 and 12 are substantially covered or enclosed .by the jackets 24 and 26 respectively, and may be spaced apart from their respective cones by the continuous, spirally positioned baille plates 28 and 30 respectively.

The assembled cones 10 and 12 and their jackets 24 and 26, as well as the cylindrical belt portion 14, are supported on the hollow trunnions or spindles 36 and 38, which are rotatably supported in suitable journals (not shown) to enable rotation of the blender about a horizontal axis. The hollow trunnion 36 provides a passageway for the exhaust or vacuum pipe 37, which extends into the blender and may be used to create a vacuum interiorly thereof. A suitable filter hood 52 may be secured to the inner end of the pipe 37.

A feature of the invention is the lump breaker L, which is disposed at the upper end of the blender B opposite the manhole structure 15. The supporting structure for the lump breaker includes a base plate 60 that is secured to the mounting plate 62 which, in turn, is secured to the upper end of the cone 12 by any suitable means. The plate 60 contains an annular flange 61 which forms an aperture 65, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described. A gasket 63 may be interposed between the plates 69 and '62 to provide a fluid-tight fit therebetween. Mounted on the plate 60 is a frame 64 that supports a driving means D, which is adapted to operate the lump breaker L and to rotate the blender B as will be hereinafter described. The driving means D includes a rotatable drive shaft 66, which extends out of the lower end of the driving means, through the aperture 65 in the base 60, and into the interior of the blender. To prevent the flow of fluid axially along the shaft 66, a packing means P is provided comprising the packing 70, which is disposed in the aperture 65 and about the shaft thereat, and is packed against the flange 71 of the plate 60 by the T-washer 72, with the bolt 73 and nut 74 structure providing the means whereby the packing pressure of the T-washer against the packing may be adjusted. With this arrangement, the packing means P provides a fluidtight seal for the shaft 66, yet permits the shaft to rotate freely.

The lump breaker L, in the preferred form, includes a rotatable rake 80, which is adapted to mesh with the stationary rake 82, said rake 82 being stationary relative to the blender B. The rake 82 includes a plurality of linearly spaced teeth or blades 84, which are secured to the underside of the base plate 60 interiorly of the blender. The rotatable rake is suitably secured to the drive shaft 66 and includes a base 85 having a plurality of linearly spaced teeth or blades 86 thereon. The blades 84 and 86 are spaced with respect to each other in a manner allowing the rakes 80 and 82 to mesh together as the rake 80 is rotated and thereby function to break up the lumps and agglomerate formation of the material being tumbled in the blender.

The driving means D includes also a horizontal rotatable drive shaft 88 which, in the preferred form, forms a part of the mechanism for rotating the blender. The outer portion of the shaft 88 is journaled in the bearing 89 which is mounted on the frame 64. A sprocket wheel 90 is secured to the free or outer end of the shaft 88. A chain belt 92 drivingly connects the sprocket wheel 90 with the stationary sprocket wheel 94, which may be secured to the plate 96 by the bolts 97, with the plate 96 being suitably secured to the stationary base or pedestal 98. Thus the pedestal 98, the plate 96, and the sprocket wheel 94 form a stationary integral unit that is free of and is unattached to the blender B. Accordingly, the blender may be rotated by the driving means D 3 about a horizontal axis represented by the trunnions 36 and 38. At the same time, the driving means D also operates the lump breaker L.

In another form of driving apparatus which may be employed torotate the blender and to actuate the lump breaker, the blender may be rotated on its horizontal axis by a suitable driving means drivingly connected directly to either of the spindles 36 or 38. With this latter construction, the rotating blender would cause the chain belt 92 (acting on the sprocket 90) to rotate the shaft 88 which, in turn, would rotate the shaft 66 through suitable reduction gearing and thus actuate the lump breaker L.

Although one specific type of lump breaking apparatus has been shown and described, it will be understood that the blender could be incorporated with any suitable type of lump breaker disposed interiorly of the blender. Additionally, the blender could be rotated by any suitable driving apparatus other than the specific forms shown and described herein.

In tests conducted on a blender constructed in accordance with the invention, it has been found that substantially higher heat transfer rates have been consistently achieved, as in the case where the material being tumbled is to be dried. This, in turn, substantially reduces the processing time. Additionally, it has been found that the material ceased to stick to the interior surface of the blender, with the result that such material discharges more readily from the blender.

The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description, and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown or described, or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

I claim:

1. A blender adapted to tumble ingredients comprising, a rotatable chamber having frusto-conical end portions with the axis of the end portions being aligned, means for mounting the chamber for rotation about an axis transverse to said aligned axis, a driving means disposed at one of the end portions of the chamber exteriorly thereof, said driving means having a drive shaft extending into the chamber, a lump breaker disposed at said one end of the chamber interiorly thereof comprising, a stationary rake having a plurality of linearly spaced blades secured to the chamber interiorly thereof, and a rotatable rake including a base secured to said drive shaft, said base having a plurality of linearly spaced blades positioned to rotatably mesh with said first-named blade and to coact therewith to break up the agglomerate formation of the material being tumbled when said driving means is actuated.

2. A blender constructed in accordance with claim 1 having a drive connecting means coacting with said drive means to enable the drive means to rotate the cylinder and actuate the lump breaker simultaneously.

3. A material handling apparatus comprising a hollow blending chamber having frusto-conical end portions, a support, means for mounting the chamber on the support for rotation on an axis transverse to the conical axis of said end portions, lump breaking means including a fixed member and a movable member operably disposed in one of said end portions and coacting therein to break agglomerate formations of material, means for rotating said movable member on an axis of rotation substantially transverse to the axis of rotation of said chamber, and means for rotating said chamber to tumble said material.

4. A blending chamber in accordance with claim 3 in which the driven lump breaking means comprises a pair of relatively movable and intermeshing bladed rakes mounted therein for driving coaction to break up the agglomerate formation of the material being tumbled.

5. A blending. chamber in accordance with claim 4 wherein one of said pair of the bladed rakes includes a plurality of linearly spaced blades mounted within the blender at one end thereof, the other of said bladed rakes including a base having a plurality of linearly spaced blades adapted to mesh with said first-named linearly spaced blades, and means for causing relative movement between said second-named linearly spaced blades in meshing relation with said first-named linearly spaced blades to break up the agglomerate formation of the material being tumbled.

6. In a material handling apparatus having a hollow chamber having frusto-conical end portions rotatable on a horizontal axis and a vertically driven lump breaking mechanism operably disposed in one of said end portions and radially displaced from said horizontal axis, means for driving said lump breaking mechanism in synchronism with rotation of said hollow chamber comprising a sprocket wheel mounted in fixed relation concentric with the axis of chamber rotation and external thereto, a second sprocket wheel mounted for rotation on an axis parallel and spaced from the axis of chamber rotation and external thereto, flexible means drivingly connecting the sprocket wheel, means drivingly coupling the second sprocket wheel with the said lump breaking mechanism, and a common driving means therefor mounted on said rotatable chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS wil 

